Task 2 - Christian Metz. Model of genre development

Christian Metz wrote a book called "Language and Cinema" where he explored the development of genre film and suggested that the genres pass through four phases of existence.

The four phases of existence are:

The experimental

The Classic

The Parody

The Deconstruction

The experimental: helped formalize narrative conventions of the horror film in its earliest phase. Films such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922)

The classic: the phase of films in which established the narrative convention of the horror genre in its most successful and defining period. Hollywood films such as Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931) made my Universal.

The parody: films which have been mimicked by the horror genre in a comical way. Films such as Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein (1948), Carry on Screaming (1968) and Scary Movie (1998)

The deconstruction: films that have taken the generic elements of the horror genre and amalgamated them into varying sub genres. Films such as Se7en (1995), The Sixth Sense (1999) The Blair Witch Project (1998) and Scream (1996)